In the process of shipping an item from one location to another, a protective packaging material is typically placed in the shipping case, or box, to fill any voids and/or to cushion the item during the shipping process. Some conventional protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pack. While these conventional plastic materials seem to adequately perform as cushioning products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serious drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their effect on our environment. Quite simply, these plastic packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems. The non-biodegradability of these packaging materials has become increasingly important in light of many industries adopting more progressive policies in terms of environmental responsibility.
The foregoing and other disadvantages of conventional plastic packaging materials have made paper protective packaging material a very popular alterative. Paper is biodegradable, recyclable and composed of a renewable resource, making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious industries.
While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheets of paper into a relatively low density pad-like cushioning dunnage product. Cushioning conversion machines in use today have included a forming device and a feeding device which coordinate to convert a continuous web of sheet-like stock material (either single-ply or multi-ply) into a three dimensional cushioning product, or pad. The forming device is used to fold, or roll, the lateral edges of the sheet-like stock material inward on itself to form a strip having a width substantially less than the width of the stock material. The feeding device advances the stock material through the forming device and it may also function as a crumpling device and a connecting (or assembling) device. The cushioning conversion machine may also include a ply separating device for separating the plies of the web before passing through the former, and usually a cutting assembly for cutting the strip into sections of desired length.
In many packaging facilities the size of the cushioning conversion machine is of minor importance. However, in other facilities space may be quite limited and the size of the cushioning conversion machine is of considerable importance. Also, a reduction in the size of a cushioning conversion machine provides various advantages such as lower shipping costs, easier delivery, more efficient service procedures, decreased need for storage space, etc.
Successful attempts have been made over the years by Ranpak Corp. of Painesville, Ohio, U.S.A., the assignee of the present application, to reduce the size of cushioning conversion machines. For example, the cushioning conversion machine marketed under the trademark PADPAK.RTM. (or PADPAK SR..TM.) and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,291 is approximately 42 inches high, 36 inches wide and 67 inches long, not including any stock roll mount. The cushioning conversion machine sold under the trademark AUTOPAD.RTM. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,889 has a length of about 59 inches, a width of about 34 inches and a height of about 12 inches, not including any stock roll mount. Roughly, the AUTOPAD.RTM. machine is no more than about one third the size of the PADPAK.RTM. machine while still producing a cushioning product of substantially identical properties. A further size reduction is exhibited by the machine marketed under the trademark PADPAK JR. (or JUNIOR) and disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/486,911, filed on Jun. 7, 1995. The PADPAK JR. machine is about 49 inches long, about 29 inches wide and about 12 inches high, not including any stock roll mount and operating handle.
In the foregoing and other types of conversion machines the forming device, by the nature of its function, occupies a significant portion of the overall volume of the machine. The forming device has heretofore been considered an essential component of the machine, notwithstanding continuing efforts to provide compact conversion machines for applications where machine size is important.